Sheep in The Big City (TV series)
Sheep in The Big City is an American animated television series which ran on Cartoon Network for two seasons, from November 17, 2000, to April 7, 2002. The series' pilot first premiered as part of Cartoon Network's "Cartoon Cartoon Summer" on August 18, 2000.[1] Created by Mo Willems, the bulk of the show follows a runaway sheep, Sheep, in its new life in "the Big City". It also features several unrelated sketches and shorts, similar to The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show. With an emphasis on more "sophisticated" (in particular, literal) humor, using multiple forms ofrhetoric from the characters to the plots, it was more popular with older audiences. It was also unusual in featuring many comic references to film-making and television broadcasting, although this is often overlooked. At the time, the premiere of Sheep in the Big City was the highest-rated premiere for a Cartoon Network original series. Production In season 1, every episode aired on Fridays except for Home For The Baa-lidays which aired on a Monday. Season 2 episodes, however, aired on Sundays. Difference Between Seasons 1 and 2 There were quite a few differences. The outline is now more curvy and Lady Ruchungton's voice has changed. Colors are also a darker shade. Swanky was pink in Season 1, but was dark lavender in Season 2. Episode Guide The show had a 26 episode span. Both seasons had 13 episodes. Season 1 lasted from November 17, 2000 to July 29, 2001. Season 2 lasted from December 2, 2001 to April 7, 2002. Season 1 (2000 - 01) #Be Still My Bleating Heart (11/17/2000) #To Bleat or Not To Bleat (11/24/2000) #Belle of the Baah (12/1/2000) #Going Off the Sheep End (12/8/2000) #Can't Live Without Ewe (1/12/2001) #15 Muttons of Fame (1/26/2001) #Home for The Baa-Lidays (12/29/2000) #Agony of De-Bleat (3/2/2001) #Baa-ck in Time (3/23/2001) #Fleeced to Meet You (6/10/2001) #A Star is Shorn (6/24/2001) #Mistaken Identi-Sheep (7/8/2001) #To Sheep, Perchance To Dream (7/29/2001) Season 2 (2001 - 02) 14. Wish You Were Shear (December 2, 2001) 15. Baah-Dern Times (December 9, 2001) 16. Flock, Up In The Sky (December 16, 2001) 17. My, How Ewe Have Changed (December 23, 2001) 18. Party Of The Shear (February 10, 2002) 19. The Wool Of The People (February 17, 2002) 20. Daddy Shearest (February 24, 2002) 21. The Wool Is Not Enough (March 3, 2002) 22. Beauty And The Bleats (March 10, 2002) 23. An Officer And A Gentlelamb (March 17, 2002) 24. Oh, The Ewemanity (March 24, 2002) 25. Here Goes Mutton (March 31, 2002) 26. Baa-Hind The Scenes (April 7, 2002) Characters *'Sheep' (voiced by Kevin Seal) is a sheep, who is the main protagonist of the series. He is owned by Farmer John, who named him sheep due to the fact that "when he was born, he looked just like a sheep." Sheep has a hard time with life—between getting chased by the military and trying to see Swanky the Poodle, the poodle that Sheep loves, without getting bonked on the head by Lady Richington with her stainless steel wig. Yet, he still makes time to act in dish-washing commercials, travel through time, get a job at a hip club, and also makes a living jumping over fences for insomniacs. Sheep bleats and does not speak in any intelligible human language. As he is a normal sheep, aside from possibly higher intelligence, he has trouble resisting his animal urges, such as eating grass, even when he is being chased by General Specific. *'General Specific' (voiced by Kevin Seal) is the main antagonist of the series. The dim-witted leader of the Secret Military Organization, Specific does his best to capture Sheep for his Sheep-Powered Ray Gun. He is never discouraged by his constant losses. Specific always speaks through his clenched teeth. He mentions in one episode that he has a steel plate in his head. In one episode, he also developed the habit of throwing his subordinates into "The Pit" (a door, appearing out of nowhere under the characters' feet) (he once did it to the subordinate who asked him why he doesn't simply catch some random sheep and make the Sheep-Powered Ray Gun compatible to it), but later, finds out that this is a problem, when neither he nor Private Public can manoeuvre the helicopter properly, because Specific dropped the helicopter pilot into the Pit. General Specific's name is an oxymoron. On his uniform, he has 3 medals that look like exclamation marks, and one that looks like a question mark. *'Farmer John' (voiced by James Edmund Godwin) is Sheep's original owner, also seeking to recapture him—although in a more mild-mannered way than General Specific. In one episode, it is revealed that "Far" and "Mer" are actually Farmer John's first and middle name, not his job description. According to Dirk and Sondra's reenacting of Farmer John's parents naming him, he was named "Far" after his father's desire to know how "far" he goes in life and "Mer" after a relative of Farmer John's mother. Sondra also jokingly suggested (albeit it's unclear if she said it on her own or if she was still acting as Farmer John's mother) that Farmer John could be named 'Elton'. Both Dirk and Sondra laughed at the suggestion. Farmer John's personality is best described that, in order not to kill any of his farm animals, he prepares water soup for the re-union. He is constantly using pseudo-psychological talk, which is, in fact, extremely boring and instead of "helping", it forces the characters not to pay attention to him. Another example of his annoyance is his "thanks" speech at the re-union, where he thanks for everything, including "air" and "silly shoes" he sometimes call Sheep "Sheepie". *'Ben Plotz' (voiced by Ken Schatz) is the show's narrator. He often complains about the quality of the writing on the show, but overall, he has an appreciation for the cast. He, on one occasion, embellishes the storyline when he dislikes the ending. *'Private Public' (voiced by James Edmund Godwin) is General Specific's right-hand man. He is always right behind General Specific, and despite being much smarter, he would prefer to receive orders than give them. His name is also oxymoronic. *'The Angry Scientist' (voiced by Mo Willems) often gets his hump busted for being an Angry Scientist rather than Mad, but he is the brains behind the organization, despite his extremely limited grasp of the English language (referring to it with the phrase "Why are you not my Englishness be understanding? All the timing with that."). His inventions include the Sheep-Powered Ray Gun, the Clome, and a Time-Travel Bicycle (although Private Public flatly points out that if he can invent a time machine why can't he invent a ray gun that works without a sheep). He often goes into fits of rage at General Specific when he calls him a 'Mad Scientist' ("ANGURY!! I am an ANGURY Scientist!!"), and on one occasion, he is called the 'Angry Chemist'. At the end of Season 1, he considers calling himself "The Scientist With Some Issues", now getting angry whenever he gets referred as "The Angry Scientist". He's mistakenly called 'Mad Scientist' so often that, in one occasion, he complained about if out of habit when he was called 'Angry Scientist'. He once opened an anger management center where he taught people to become angrier. General Specific used to be one of his clients until he said the center made him madder, making the Angry Scientist expel him, claiming it was an 'Anger Management Center' and not a 'Madness Management Center'. General Specific was so angry for being expelled The Angry Scientist considered him another satisfied customer. *'The Plot Device' (voiced by Stephanie D'Abruzzo) is a machine that comes up with plans for General Specific, such as disguising sleep potion as water soup cooks to sneak into Farmer John's house. Her name is a pun as her main role in the stories is as a plot device. *'General Lee Outrageous' (voiced by Joey Mazzarino) is General Specific's cousin, who is a stereotypical 1970s disco partier. He is nearly identical to Specific, but has sunglasses, shiny clothing, blue hair shaped into a ponytail, a gold tooth and three stars on his hat, as opposed to Specific's one star. Lee is also Specific's rival, and uses a goat-powered ray-gun. He has a sidekick called Private Party, who is similar to Private Public and could be his cousin. His name is a pun on "generally outrageous". *'Lady Virginia Richington' (voiced by Ruth Buzzi in the pilot and Stephanie D'Abruzzo in the series) is the owner of Swanky. Lady Richington, of the Filthy Richingtons, is quite rich. She owns the majority of the city and is never seen without her gaudy jewellery and lavish clothing. While she may not look very intimidating, she has a severe hatred of sheep in general, and won't hesitate to pummel them into fluffy pulps with her stainless steel wig. *'Lisa Rentel' (voiced by Stephanie D'Abruzzo) is an annoying, evil little girl, who thinks that Sheep is a "cutesy wootsey dog" and wants him desperately. Lisa also loves to refer to Sheep as "Doggy Woggy Smoggy Foggy Loggy Toggy Doggy". Her name is a pun on the words, "lease a rental". When she and General Specific first met, she convinced him that Sheep was a dog by having Sheep obey her commands (not knowing her true colors back then, Sheep played along) and telling him Sheep was a sheep dog. *'X Agent' is a black-woollen sheep whom General Specific hired in order to capture Sheep. X Agent becomes best friends with Sheep and, after feeling remorse for betraying Sheep, betrays Specific and becomes a Batman-like superhero. In another episode, he becomes an overprotective guardian of Sheep. He leaves after Completely Powerful Guy reads a telegram from "The Writer", informing X Agent that he has been assigned to Toledo, Ohio, and that the request is not "just a convenient way of getting you out of this show." Like Sheep, X Agent bleats and does not speak in intelligible human language. *'Oxymoron' is an ox who debuted in numerous "Phony Bologna" advertisements for the Oxymoron company. He also makes cameos in some episodes. His name is a parody of oxymoron, a phrase in which an adjective that means the opposite of the noun that it describes is used (e.g. a smart idiot, a planned coincidence, Hopeless Optimistic, etc.). *'Victor' (voiced by Ken Schatz) is an obnoxious salesman and spokesperson who usually hosts the Oxymoron commercials. The other people in the commercials do not usually expect him to show up and often demand to know who he is when he does, but he never tells them. Victor does not (or wishes not to) see the harmfulness and uselessness of his products. *'Jay' (voiced by Ken Schatz) is a man who, whenever Sheep or any other main character sees a sign, is first heard reading it aloud, and when the character turns to him, he raises his glasses and says something along the lines of: "I like to read," or "Reading is funducational." *'Swanky the Poodle' (voiced by Stephanie D'Abruzzo) is a poodle and Sheep's love interest, who, luckily, gives Sheep some attention. Swanky is owned by Lady Richington. *'Great Scott' (voiced by Ken Schatz) is a Scotsman, appearing after someone says the exclamation, "Great Scott!" He was once accompanied by Holly Molly. *'News Announcers:' The duo of news announcers, one a neurotic, angry man called Hank (voiced by Ken Schatz) and the other a ditsy blond female called Betsy (voiced by Stephanie D'Abruzzo), who proclaim everything oh-so unrelated as a "related story". *'Irv, the Studio Accountant' (voiced by Joey Mazzarino) forces, in order to lower show expenses, the narrator to make the sounds himself and re-directs sheep into escaping in the time machine because "so much time and money was put" into its building and re-construction. *'The Sombrero Brothers' are two untalented performers in Mexican attire whose act, "flying sombrero brothers" is flying on a plane. Their names are Hector (voiced by Mo Willems) and Bill (voiced by Ken Schatz). *'The Ranting Swede' (voiced by Kevin Seal) A Swedish man who rants about pianos, supermarkets, and a variety of other topics. His rants appear at the end of every single episode, except the final one, which is done in reverse order. Availability The first season was available on iTunes . However, it was taken off of iTunes for unknown reasons. In the UK, 2 episodes and the pilot have been released on a DVD. The pilot is also on the Power Puff Girls "Power Puff Bluff" DVD.